Murray postgame quotes

(on the game…)
MURRAY: “It was a very big win, coming into this building in Game 2 when we’re a little short, with key players out of the lineup. That requires a real competitive attitude by everyone that is playing. Guys have to really dig in and play hard for each other. I think that’s the competitive spirit that our team has shown many, many times over the last couple years here. They really play hard for each other. They dig in when they have to, and to me that’s probably defined as a gritty hockey club. The right guys stepped up and produced at the right time here tonight, with Doughty, Johnson and the back end. Ryan Smyth played a real big game for us here tonight. So the key guys that you need to step up played as hard as they could.”

(on the power-play success…)
MURRAY: “Ironically, the power play has been something that has been a concern in the last quarter of the season for us, and here it is, in a big game here tonight, and stepped up and really performed well. But there’s been a lot of time put in, to get this thing going and get it turned around, to have the right outcome in a critical point in the game, and it happened here tonight. It was a good job by guys just getting to the net. There was a lot of traffic. I thought we had a great net presence the whole game, and you get pucks from the back end, especially with Doughty and Johnson shooting. They’ve got powerful shots, heavy shots, and it paid off here tonight for us.”

(on the effort of the defensemen…)
MURRAY: “That’s a team. The defensemen, the six guys, did a real good job. I thought they were composed. They made some plays. They were blocking a lot of shots. They were hard and gritty in front of the crease. But overall it takes everybody. The forwards came back, they reloaded. There was a real good F3 (forward) throughout the game, I thought. They really worked hard with the defensemen in the low breakouts. Whenever Quick had the chances against, he was there for us.”

(on Drew Doughty’s game…)
MURRAY: “He’s playing the last quarter of the season here the way he played last year. He’s really skating. He’s confident with the puck. He’s a dominant player. I think he can take control of any shift that he wants to when he’s out there. That’s the kind of attitude he has played with in the last 20 games down the home stretch, and then again here tonight. That’s the important part of it. Whenever you need something big to happen, like we did tonight because of the adversity we faced, the key guys have to step up, and Doughty has always shown that ability to make the play at the right time, to step up, to try to be assertive and get things turned around if necessary. What’s his upside? His upside is unlimited, as far as I’m concerned. He’s got great ability, great skill. He’s the best young defenseman I’ve seen, maybe going back in the last 10 years. He’s really got incredible potential.”

(on getting a split in San Jose…)
MURRAY: “The old cliche of getting a split on the road at the start of the season, and bringing it back home, is what you talk about often. It was never more true than it was here tonight. We had to come out and show everything, pour it all in. We know there’s two days until the next game. Guys held nothing back. They did the right stuff. Hard along the boards, hard in front of the net. They really paid a price in this game to get the job done. I loved the way we cycled the puck. That was critical to our defensive part of the game. Get pucks behind them, be strong on the cycle. Lewis with Smyth and Williams, in particular, were really good. That takes time off the clock. That helps us play with confidence and get some pucks to the net in the right areas at the right time.”

(on the Kings’ defensive game…)
MURRAY: “Our m.o. is, we want to be a good defending hockey club. I think you’ve got to be a good defending team in order to win in the National Hockey League during the regular season, and it becomes highlighted even more in the playoffs. This was a game that we needed that back end to step up and really do a job for us. Quick, those seven guys back there, did a tremendous job, moving pucks whenever the opportunity was there, just getting out of trouble. At the other times, big penalty kills, blocking shots and just everybody dug in. Scuderi with his big stick. Mitchell, he’s got the same kind of stick, tremendous range, and I thought discouraged a lot of shots. They were able to break up a lot of passes through the seams.”

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